Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Trims Stake in Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 715 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Verisk Analytics were worth $170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VRSK. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Verisk Analytics during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Verisk Analytics by 67.5% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 134 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Verisk Analytics in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Verisk Analytics

In other news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total value of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Kathy Card Beckles sold 227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.61, for a total transaction of $53,937.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,407.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Daffan sold 1,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.12, for a total transaction of $361,499.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,035,744.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,647,952 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

Verisk Analytics Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of VRSK stock opened at $222.18 on Tuesday. Verisk Analytics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.86 and a 12 month high of $251.98. The stock has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.56.

Verisk Analytics (NASDAQ:VRSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The business services provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $677.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $673.56 million. Verisk Analytics had a net margin of 22.92% and a return on equity of 305.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Verisk Analytics, Inc. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Verisk Analytics declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 21st that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Verisk Analytics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Verisk Analytics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Verisk Analytics’s dividend payout ratio is 37.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VRSK. Bank of America cut shares of Verisk Analytics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $260.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Verisk Analytics in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.00.

About Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc provides data analytics and technology solutions to the insurance markets in the United States and internationally. It offers policy language, prospective loss costs, policy writing and rating rules, and various underwriting solutions for risk selection and segmentation, pricing, and workflow optimization; property- and auto- specific rating and underwriting information solutions that allows clients to understand, quantify, underwrite, mitigate, and avoid potential loss for risks; catastrophe modeling solutions, which enables companies to identify, quantify, and plan for the financial consequences of catastrophes for use by insurers, reinsurers, intermediaries, financial institutions, and governments.